Beluga Whale Management and Research

Publications & Reports

• Marine Mammal Program Scientific Publications

Management

The management of beluga whales falls under the jurisdiction of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NMFS manages Alaska’s beluga stocks through comanagement agreements with Alaska Native groups.

The Cook Inlet stock is managed through a comanagement agreement between NMFS and the Cook Inlet Marine Mammal Council (CIMMC). The CIMMC was chartered by the Cook Inlet Treaty Tribes in 1994. The Council is composed of village representatives and subsistence beluga hunters within Cook Inlet.

The other four stocks are comanaged by NMFS and the Alaska Beluga Whale Committee (ABWC). The ABWC was founded in 1988 and has representatives from the areas that hunt belugas in western Alaska. Scientists and government officials also sit on the committee.

Research

Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) is currently participating in studies of beluga whales in Bristol Bay and Cook Inlet.

Bristol Bay

ADF&G scientists are using satellite tags to monitor year-round movements of belugas and determine which habitats are most important to them. They are also conducting health assessments to obtain baseline data for a healthy, increasing wild population. This information can be used to monitor the continued health of this population in the future or to compare to other populations to determine potential threats. Another beluga research project in Bristol Bay is a genetic capture-recapture study. The results from this research will be used to estimate population size and may provide other valuable information.

For more information on beluga research see Beluga Studies in Bristol Bay.

Fish and Wildlife News: Bristol Bay Belugas, November 2018

Cook Inlet

ADF&G is currently collaborating on an acoustic monitoring project in Cook Inlet to evaluate seasonal habitat usage by belugas.